Born on May 21, 1991, Chari Wanda Hawkins is a combined events track and field athlete who competes in the pentathlon and heptathlon. A competitive star at the world level, Hawkins’ personal best points tally in the pentathlon is 4492 (which she achieved in Spokane, Washington, in 2022), and her heptathlon personal best is 6456 (which she achieved in Eugene, Oregon, in 2024).
Having attempted to do so for a decade (missing out on two games in the process), Hawkins finally competed in her first Olympics at the age of 33 at the Paris 2024 event. She placed second at the United States Olympic Trials, having achieved a personal best in three events, as well as her aforementioned overall heptathlon personal best.
As per her former university, Utah State, she finished 21st in the heptathlon in Paris — thanks primarily to a devastatingly poor performance in the high jump, which resulted in her gaining no points in the event. But what happened?
Why did Chari Hawkins get no points in the high jump?
Sadly, as per Deseret News, Chari Hawkins “no heighted” in the high jump part of the heptathlon at the Olympics, which means that she missed three attempts in a row at the lowest height of 1.71 meters and received no points. It effectively ended her chances of ending up in any of the medal positions in just the second event of the competition.
She was seen shaking and crying after her unfortunate failure and said, “I’m like literally so shocked right now.”
Rather impressively, however, she shrugged off the high jump debacle and, as per Utah State’s website, she bravely continued in the following days with a smile on her face. She finished “14th in the long jump, with a mark of 5.90 meters, and 15th in the javelin with a throw of 44.30 meters.” Hawkins ended her participation at the Olympics with a “time of 2:15.76 for a finish of 17th in the 800 meters.”
We wish her all the best in the future.